Llonka Cann was reported missing on May 26, 1970.
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Overhead view of two ponds being searched on Cann Road in Huntington Township. Source: Luzerne County GIS/Mapping Portal
HUNTINGTON TWP. — State police and the Luzerne County district attorney’s office are involved in the search of several ponds that are being drained in hopes of finding a woman who disappeared 52 years ago, the Times Leader has learned.
Llonka Cann, a 22-year-old mother, was reported missing by her husband, Charles Cann II, on May 26, 1970. Charles Cann reportedly last seen his wife at their residence on Cann Road in Huntington Township.
Cann was a teacher when she was reported missing.
Her disappearance was a topic at Wilkes University’s Missing Persons Day held in May 2018, which was hosted by the district attorney’s office, state police and NamUs (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System).
A law enforcement source confirmed that investigators are searching several ponds located along Cann Road and near her residence. Fish are being removed from the ponds as they are being drained.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Luzerne County Conservation District are assisting in the search.
An emergency permit issued by DEP, which is dated Monday, lists the address as 70 Cann Road. The permit was required to drawdown or excavate a by-pass channel “for the purpose of a criminal investigation,” as the ponds are tributaries to Huntington Creek.
District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce confirmed the search, without releasing specifics.
“The state police and our office are conducting a search of rural property in Huntington Mills, following up on a decades old missing persons case. The search is the next step in a long investigation,” he said.
“All information related to the search is under seal so we do not expect to have further comment in the near future,” Sanguedolce added.
The Times Leader reported in 1970 that Cann, when she was reported missing, was 5 feet 6 inches tall, approximately 122 pounds, had blonde hair and blue eyes. In the months after Cann’s disappearance, a team of scuba divers from the Scranton Police Department searched a pond near her residence but did not locate a body.